PARIS: Chargers, Cowboys make nice

The Cowboys were at Chargers Park on Monday and what in the name of the Lone Star State is going on?

"The best thing about it is, we see different people,'' Chargers coach Norv Turner said.

But those silver and white uniforms looked familiar some 48 hours after the Chargers beat Dallas in their second preseason game.

Instead of taking its licking and trucking home, America's Team stuck around in America's Finest City for two days of combined practices. The teams complete their sessions Tuesday, hoping both benefit and find a destination they missed last year: the playoffs.

That's fine, but the best part of these types of workouts are the fights, pinching, pushing and shoving, which happens when massive men making their living knocking the stuffing out of each other get testy.

The game is minimized to its core, which is imposing your will on the opponent, and how fun is that to view when things get chippy under the sizzling summer skies?

What's that, nary a dustup? No brawls? No haymakers?

Turner said he and Dallas coach Jason Garrett told their charges to be on their best behavior.

"We don't want to come out here and scuffle and fight,'' Turner said, and what a buzz-kill. "We just want to work. The players were respectful of each other and were making sure of taking care of each other, while still competing, and they got something out of it.''

What I got is quarterback Philip Rivers and wide receiver Robert Meachem have ---- no, really ---- met. They made a concerted effort to click on numerous routes, something they didn't do Saturday when one of Rivers' downfield offerings was woefully short and intercepted.

There's chatter Rivers and Meachem, the new No. 1 with Vincent Jackson in Tampa Bay, aren't sharing a duplicate wavelength.

"For all the people that are real quick to jump in on Meachem and I's progress, at practice today he caught about 15 passes,'' Rivers said. "So things are improving.''

Rivers was joking about the number but it's clear their emerging relationship isn't where it needs to be. That's OK, but after missing Meachem by such a wide margin Saturday, is everything groovy with Rivers' arm strength?

Yes, he stressed, calling such speculation as "silly." It was his feet, not his wing, which failed him.

"I had bad footwork on that one,'' Rivers said. "I can get one 60 yards every now and then, but if we're relying on 60-yarders, we're going to be in trouble.''

The Chargers aren't a mess ---- far from it. But like all NFL teams, they have blemishes that need attention. Monday offered just that against some fresh faces.

"I feel like we have a lot of work to do, we're still learning and in the process,'' running back Ronnie Brown said. "Myself and the offensive line, we're all trying to get on the same page. That's the beautiful thing about it, you see things in the preseason that you need to work on.''

The Chargers' biggest bugaboo in meaningless games is running to the locker room with the same number of players exiting it. Wide receiver Vincent Brown was lost for two months Saturday when breaking his ankle. The previous game saw running back Ryan Mathews down in a heap; he's out another estimated five weeks with a broken clavicle.

On Monday, it was the Cowboys' turn to hold their breath as wide receiver Dez Bryant limped off with a sprained knee.

Too bad for Bryant, but who cares if you're a Charger? With their long list of ailments ---- left tackle Jared Gaither (back) was absent again ---- they can't fret about others.

Even if it's their buddies, the Dallas dudes.

"We have a great working relationship with the Cowboys,'' said Turner, after wearing a Super Bowl ring Saturday he earned as their offensive coordinator.

Rats. While hoping for football with a side dish of fights, we get a lovefest of the mutual admiration society.

"Nah, it was pretty cool,'' Brown said, when asked if there was animosity between the teams. "Everybody came out here willing to work and put all that stuff aside.''